Employment law cases in the news – 25.07.2016 to 31.07.2016

redmans-blog-newsIn the latest of our series of posts on employment law cases in the news, we take a look at ten employment law cases that have made the news between 25 July 2016 and 31 July 2016

  1. ‘Fraud unravels all’: landmark Supreme Court ruling – In a landmark ruling for lawyers and insurers, the Supreme Court has paved the way for personal injury settlements to be successfully challenged if the claimant is subsequently found to have lied. The court ruled that a settlement in Hayward v Zurich for almost £135,000 be set aside and the claimant instead be paid an award of £14,720 (The Law Society Gazette)
  2. EAT clarifies extended definition of ‘worker’ for whistleblowing purposes – In McTigue v University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, the EAT has clarified the circumstances in which an agency worker can claim whistleblowing protection against an end-user by virtue of the extended definition of ‘worker’ in S.43K of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ELAweb)
  3. Producers of Star Wars plead guilty – Foodles Production (UK) Ltd has today pleaded guilty to failing to protect actors and workers following an incident in which actor Harrison Ford was seriously injured during the filming of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (HSE)
  4. HIV charity unfairly dismissed CEO, employment tribunal rules – The head of the UK’s largest HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust was unfairly dismissed from her role, an employment tribunal has ruled. In 2014 Dr Rosemary Gillespie was appointed to reform the charity, which provides support services and campaigns on various issues related to AIDS and HIV. She was fired from the charity in July 2015, less than two years later (Pink News)
  5. Court of Appeal rules barrister’s race claim out of time – A barrister exonerated of conduct breaches at her pioneering practice has failed in a discrimination claim against the Bar Standards Board on the grounds she was too late in making it (The Law Society Gazette)
  6. Former partner loses age discrimination case against firm – The former partner at a Top 100 regional firm alleged age discrimination when his employer declined to offer him a new partnership after a restructure. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has dismissed an appeal brought by Tracy Fennell, a former senior solicitor at West Country law firm Foot Anstey who claimed that age discrimination had played a role in his firm’s decision not to continue his limited equity partnership (LEP) at the firm (Global Legal Post)
  7. UKIP’s Nathan Gill faces unfair sacking complaint – The former constituency manager for UKIP Wales leader and MEP Nathan Gill has claimed he was unfairly sacked on disability grounds. John Atkinson’s complaint against Mr Gill is being dealt with by the Employment Tribunals Service in Cardiff (BBC)
  8. SSA trader sues Credit Agricole for unfair dismissal – A trader at Credit Agricole who was caught up in an investigation into sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) debt trading earlier this year is suing the French bank for unfair dismissal, according to a court filing (Reuters)
  9. National Steel firm fined £1.98million for safety failings – Tata Steel has been fined after two workers suffered injuries to their hands in two separate incidents involving machinery. Northampton Crown Court heard how a 26-year-old employee lost two thirds of his left hand and his middle and ring fingers whilst trying to clear a blockage on a steel tube manufacturing line (HSE)
  10. Sacked Coventry Co-op warehouse worker denies being part of alleged ‘product picking’ scam – At least half a dozen workers have been sacked from the Co-op’s massive £20million national distribution centre in Coventry after devising a “product picking” scam. The sackings took place after operatives in the state-of-the-art distribution warehouse, the size of six football pitches and one of the largest in the Midlands, were accused of tricking the system into thinking they had met their targets (Coventry Telegraph)